What is the Lille self-guided walking tour?
The Lille self-guided walking tour is a walk through Lille that you take on your own, with audio narration on your phone instead of a guide. It takes about 3 hours in all: 38 minutes of walking over 3 km, and 10 stops where the narration takes over. Distances are short, so the hours go on the façades, the squares and the stories behind them.
Under the 104-metre Town Hall Belfry you meet Lydéric and Phinaert, the giants of Lille's founding legend. At the Porte de Paris the story is Louis XIV's capture of the city in 1667, and on the Grand'Place the Column of the Goddess and the Austrian siege of 1792. In the courtyard of the Vieille Bourse, built in 1652 and 1653 as 24 identical houses, the narration explains why booksellers and chess fans gather there today.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 38 min · 3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do along the way
Hear the stories
Every stop has its own audio chapter with history, local legends and fun facts, read aloud or shown as text.
Find the way
Google Maps shows the way to the next stop: 3 km and about 38 minutes on foot in total.
Take a break
Nothing runs on a timetable. Close the app for a meal or a museum and open it again whenever you like, even the next day.
Local tips
Along the way you get tips for food and shops near the route. If another starting point suits you better, change it in the app.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
First time in Lille
One walk links the main sights of the centre and explains what you are looking at.
Travellers who skip group tours
No group to keep up with and no meeting point: stay where something interests you and move on when you are ready.
A short stay
About 3 hours covers the centre, so the rest of the day stays free.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: the Belfry, the Porte de Paris, the Grand'Place, the Vieille Bourse
10 stops · about 38 min walking · start: Lille Town Hall Belfry · finish: Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral
The walk sets off at the Town Hall Belfry and passes through the Porte de Paris before heading to the Palais des Beaux-Arts and Place de la République. It continues to Saint-Maurice Church and then to the War Memorial on Place Rihour, a few steps from the Grand'Place. From the Vieille Bourse it is only a short way to the Chamber of Commerce Belfry, and the walk ends in Vieux-Lille at Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral. The app lets you change the start and the order, and no stop asks for an entry ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Lille Town Hall BelfryStart
The 104-metre belfry of the town hall was designed by Émile Dubuisson and inaugurated in 1932, when Lille was rebuilding after the First World War. At its foot stand concrete statues of Lydéric and Phinaert, the giants of the city's founding legend, and since 2005 it has been part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France.
2Porte de Paris
This triumphal arch was built between 1685 and 1692 by Simon Vollant, an engineer who had worked with Vauban on Lille's citadel, to celebrate Louis XIV's capture of the city in 1667. Look for Hercules with his club and Mars, god of war, in the niches, and two trumpeting angels on top.
3Palais des Beaux-Arts
Built between 1885 and 1892 to designs by the Paris architects Édouard Bérard and Fernand Delmas, this palace houses one of the largest art museums in France. Its collection runs from Raphael and Rubens to Goya and Delacroix, and includes relief models of fortified towns from the age of Vauban.
4Place de la République
The square is framed by two grand 19th-century buildings facing each other: the Palais des Beaux-Arts and the Prefecture of the Nord department, begun in 1865 to designs by Charles Marteau. It is one of the city's main meeting points, with its own metro station, République–Beaux-Arts.
5Saint-Maurice Church
Saint-Maurice is a Gothic hall church: its nave and the double aisles on each side all rise to the same height. Building began in the late 14th century, the western bays and steeple were only completed in the 1870s, and the church was listed as a historic monument in 1840.
Read the full story →
6War Memorial (Monument aux Morts)
Lille's war memorial on Place Rihour was inaugurated in 1927 against the walls of the Palais Rihour, the 15th-century palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. Designed by sculptor Edgar Boutry and architect Jacques Alleman, it honours soldiers and civilians alike, with scenes of peace, the city's liberation in 1918 and civilians taken away during the German occupation.
7Grand'Place (Place du Général-de-Gaulle)
The main square was renamed after Charles de Gaulle, who was born in Lille in 1890, in September 1944, but locals still call it the Grand'Place. In the centre stands the Column of the Goddess, finished in 1845 in memory of the city's resistance to the Austrian siege of 1792.
8Vieille Bourse
The Old Stock Exchange was built in 1652 and 1653 under the direction of Julien Destrée: 24 identical houses in Flemish Renaissance style around an arcaded courtyard. A statue of Mercury, god of commerce, crowns its bell tower, and today the courtyard belongs to second-hand booksellers and chess players.
Read the full story →
9Chamber of Commerce Belfry
The Chamber of Commerce building on Place du Théâtre was designed by Louis-Marie Cordonnier and built from 1910 to 1921 in neo-Flemish style. Its 76-metre belfry rises right next to the Vieille Bourse and the Opera and is one of the landmarks of the Lille skyline.
10Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille CathedralFinish
The foundation stone of this Gothic Revival church was laid in 1854, and building went on in stages for more than a century. It became a cathedral when the Diocese of Lille was created in 1913, and its modern façade by architect Pierre-Louis Carlier and engineer Peter Rice was only installed in 1999.
Read the full story →
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
App was niet optimaal. Kan niet terug keren naar vorige teksten. Ook geen benoeming van de vinkjes op kaart of nummers.
Anna– Czech Republic –
Collected on GetYourGuide
it was ok
Gail– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Easy to use and follow and great way to do your own tour at leisure. Good to get a little information about each place without going over the top – I’m no history buff but I like to know something about the building I’m looking at so suited me perfectly. Excellent value. Would definitely do this again.
Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Eenvoudige manier om een stad te leren kennen. Helemaal goed.